BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

•o 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


No.  98— SECOND  SERIES— 3000. 


The  Indians  of 

The  Yukon  and  Tanana 

Valleys,  Alaska 


By 

Matthew  K.  Sniffen 

and 

Dr.  Thos.  Specs  Carrington 


INDIAN  RIGHTS  ASSOCIATION 

995  DREXEL  BUILDING,  PHILADELPHIA 

1914 


Persons  desiring  to  become  members  of  the  Association 
should  present  their  names  and  addresses  to  the  Corres- 
ponding Secretary,  who  will  submit  them  to  the  Executive 
Committee,  for  election.  An  annual  fee  of  two  dollars  is 
required  of  members,  in  return  for  which  they  are  entitled 
to  all  publications  of  the  society. 

HERBERT  WELSH, 

Corresponding  Secretary  I.  R.  A.t 
995  DREXEL  BUILDING,  PHILADELPHIA. 


WV.    F.    FELL    COMPANY 
PHILADELPHIA 


C/)    < 

g  § 


The  Indians  of 

The  Yukon  and  Tanana 

Valleys,  Alaska 


By 

Matthew  K.jSniffen 

and    L- 

Dr.  Thos.  Specs  Carrington 


INDIAN  RIGHTS  ASSOCIATION 

995  DREXEL  BUILDING,  PHILADELPHIA 

1914 


To  THE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE: 

In  company  with  Dr.  Thomas  S.  Carrington  I  left  Seattle, 
Washington,  by  steamer  on  June  2d.  We  made  close  con- 
nections at  all  transfer  points,  and  arrived  at  Eagle,  Alaska, 
June  1 2th — the  first  town  west  of  the  border  line.  It  was 
exceedingly  difficult  to  get  any  satisfactory  information  in 
Seattle,  or  elsewhere  in  the  States,  as  to  what  we  should  take 
with  us  in  the  way  of  an  outfit,  but  we  were  strongly  ad- 
vised to  purchase  a  boat  and  ship  it  up  to  Eagle.  This  we 
did,  together  with  an  overboard  gasoline  motor  and  such 
other  supplies  as  seemed  to  us  necessary  for  ordinary  com- 
fort. We  made  our  final  preparations  at  Eagle,  and  then 
proceeded  in  our  1 8-foot  open  boat,  on  a  trip  of  about  1600 
miles,  stopping  at  all  towns  and  settlements  and  many  fish 
camps  and  wood  camps  along  the  Yukon  River  from  Eagle 
to  Holy  Cross,  and  on  the  Tanana  River  from  Fairbanks  to 
Fort  Gibbon.  To  have  undertaken  the  trip  by  the  regular 
steamers  would  have  meant  a  great  waste  of  time,  much 
inconvenience,  and  considerable  expense;  the  steamer 
schedule  is  infrequent  and  uncertain,  and  it  would  have 
been  necessary  for  us  to  have  waited  a  week  in  some  small 
place  before  we  could  get  away,  when  we  could  not  profit- 
ably have  spent  more  than  a  half -day  there. 

We  did  not  reveal  our  identity,  except  on  one  or  two  oc- 
casions, but  traveled  as  tourists,  in  order  that  we  might  see 
conditions  as  they  were,  and  especially  observe  the  attitude 
of  the  whites  toward  the  Indians.  We  were  hospitably 
received  throughout  the  trip,  and  the  people  whom  we  met — 
and  we  endeavored  to  overlook  none — expressed  themselves 
freely  on  all  topics  that  were  brought  up  for  discussion. 

Usually  we  camped  along  the  shores  of  the  river,  or  on  a 
bar  in  the  middle  of  the  river  (to  minimize  as  much  as  pos- 
sible the  mosquito  plague),  when  our  day's  run  was  com- 

3 


pleted;  but  if  we  reached  a  town  where  fairly  decent  ac- 
commodations could  be  had,  we  stopped  at  the  local  hotels 
or  road  houses  in  order  to  meet  and  converse  with  the  in- 
habitants. It  was  continuous  daylight,  and  we  could 
travel  until  we  felt  like  stopping. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  area  of  Alaska  is  one-fifth 
the  size  of  the  United  States,  and  that  its  coast  line  ex- 
tends a  distance  of  25,000  miles  or  more.  Manifestly,  it 
would  have  been  impossible  for  us,  in  one  short  open  season, 
to  cover  the  entire  Territory.  This  report,  therefore,  deals 
only  with  conditions  in  the  Yukon  and  Tanana  Valleys, 
and  two  coast  points — St.  Michael  and  Nome. 

Scattered  along  the  Yukon  and  Tanana  Rivers,  in  small 
villages,  there  are  upward  of  5000  Indians.  From  Eagle 
down  to  Nulato  there  is  practically  no  difference  in  their 
customs  and  habits;  the  condition  of  the  people  and  the 
village  as  found  at  one  place  was  typical  of  nearly  all  the 
rest.  All  these  natives  are,  and  have  been,  self-supporting. 
In  winter  they  go  back  into  the  hills  for  game.  They  eat 
the  meat  and  sell  the  furs — and  some  of  them  realize  a 
goodly  sum  from  their  winter's  work.  In  the  summer  the 
Indians  scatter  along  the  river  in  small  camps,  for  the  fish 
(mostly  of  the  salmon  variety)  that  run  up  the  river. 
Their  catches  are  cured  by  a  smoke  and  air  process  and 
then  packed  in  bales.  The  king  salmon  forms  an  import- 
ant part  of  their  food  supply,  while  the  "dog  salmon"  is 
kept  for  their  own  animals  or  sold  to  the  whites.  All 
winter  travel  is  by  dog  team,  and  dried  fish  is  the  principal 
canine  diet.  Where  an  Indian  makes  a  good  catch  of  fish 
and  has  more  than  is  needed  for  his  own  dogs,  he  can  find 
ready  market  for  his  surplus  stock,  at  an  average  price  of 
20  or  25  cents  a  pound.  The  fish  are  mostly  caught  in  the 
large  net-wheels,  which  work  automatically  by  the  swift 
current,  once  they  are  properly  set  in  motion.  All  that  the 
Indian  needs  to  do  after  that  is  to  "harvest  his  crop"  and 
hold  it  for  the  demand  that  is  sure  to  come. 

Between  hunting  and  fishing  these  Indians  can  make  a 
comfortable  living,  and  it  would  be  unwise  to  take  any 


THE  BOAT  IN  WHICH  MESSRS.  CARRINGTON  AND  SNIFFEN  TRAVELED  1600  MILES  ON 
THE  YUKON  AND  TANANA  RIVERS. 


INDIAN  CABIN,  EAGLE,  ALASKA. 


steps  that  would  destroy  their  self-reliance.  It  is  of  the 
utmost  importance,  however,  to  see  to  it  that  they  are  pro- 
tected in  their  fishing  and  hunting  rights,  and  given  at  least 
"an  even  break."  At  present,  with  the  exception  of  Fort 
Yukon  and  Tanana,  these  Indians  have  no  right  to  their 
homes  other  than  those  of  squatters.  The  same  is  true  of 
the  sites  where  their  fish  camps  have  been  for  years  located. 

The  greatest  danger-point  just  now  is  the  valley  along 
the  Tanana  River.  This  past  summer  that  section  was 
being  surveyed  by  the  Government  with  a  view  to  deter- 
mining the  best  route  for  a  railroad  from  Fairbanks  or  some 
interior  town  to  the  Yukon  River,  and  it  is  believed  that 
the  most  feasible  line  is  through  that  portion  of  the  valley 
where  the  Indians  have  their  homes.  Should  the  projected 
railroad  be  built,  it  will  doubtless  mean  the  establishment 
of  town  sites;  and  the  location  of  some  of  the  Indian  vil- 
lages is  such  that  "the  march  of  progress"  is  apt  to  cause 
trouble  for  the  natives  unless  prompt  steps  are  taken  to 
have  their  land  rights  respected.  Should  the  railroad  be 
built,  it  will  undoubtedly  bring  into  Alaska  many  people 
who  have  been  deluded  by  the  seductive  literature  of  the 
transportation  companies  regarding  the  "great  opportuni- 
ties" opened  up,  etc.;  and  even  though  these  newcomers 
do  not  remain  longer  in  the  country  than  they  can  possibly 
help,  they  can  cause  a  great  deal  of  trouble  for  the  Indians, 
as  matters  now  stand. 

It  would  be  impractical  to  attempt  to  establish  game  pre- 
serves for  the  sole  benefit  of  the  Indians,  but  the  existing 
law  prohibiting  the  use  of  poison  in  catching  fur-bearing 
animals  should  be  more  rigidly  enforced.  It  is  claimed  in 
all  directions  that  white  men  resort  to  this  method  of  in- 
creasing their  season's  catch,  but  so  far  as  I  could  learn  the 
Indians  have  not  been  accused  of  so  doing.  There  is  a 
game  warden  whose  duty  it  is  to  stop  this  practice,  but  the 
territory  he  has  to  cover  is  so  extensive  and  the  allowance 
for  necessary  expenses  so  small  that  he  cannot  be  expected 
seriously  to  interfere  with  this  class  of  law-breakers.  If 
this  abuse  is  not  checked,  the  supply  of  fur-bearing  animals 


is  sure  to  become  very  scarce,  if  not  extinct.  Then  the 
problem  of  support  for  the  natives  will  become  a  serious  one. 

EAGLE. — This  village  is  three  miles  above  the  town.  It 
has  a  population  of  50.  The  Indians  have  just  about  held 
their  own  in  numbers.  They  live  in  small  cabins,  mostly 
one  room.  The  health  conditions  are  poor;  much  tuber- 
culosis in  one  form  or  another.  The  government  has  a  day 
school  there,  and  the  teacher,  Miss  Graves,  has  full  charge 
of  the  village.  She  acts  as  educator,  sanitary  inspector, 
nurse,  physician,  and  policeman.  Owing  to  lack  of  funds 
the  Bureau  of  Education  paid  her  ten  months'  salary  for  a 
year's  work.  There  was  formerly  a  military  post  at  Eagle 
(Fort  Egbert),  but  there  is  but  a  small  detail  in  charge  of 
the  wireless  station. 

(At  each  point  we  visited  Dr.  Carrington  made  an  in- 
spection of  the  sanitary  conditions  of  the  village,  held  clin- 
ics, and  advised  the  teachers  what  course  of  treatment  to 
follow  in  given  cases.  He  has  made  a  separate  report  on 
this  subject.) 

The  Episcopal  Church  has  a  mission  at  Eagle,  in  charge 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Burgess.  He  was  on  his  vacation  at  the  time 
of  our  visit,  and  we  did  not  have  an  opportunity  of  conferr- 
ing with  him. 

The  Indians  at  this  village  will  drink  whenever  they  can 
get  liquor,  but  they  are  probably  a  little  better  off  because 
of  their  isolation. 

CHARLIE'S  VILLAGE  was  located  about  90  miles  below 
Eagle.  When  the  ice  broke  up  last  spring  the  river  rose 
higher  than  at  any  time  on  record  and  overflowed  the  high 
banks.  Huge  boulders  of  ice  were  swept  in  various  direc- 
tions and  did  a  great  amount  of  damage.  The  flood  com- 
pletely destroyed  Charlie's  village,  where  40  Indians  made 
their  homes,  and  they  have  since  scattered  up  and  down 
the  river. 

CIRCLE  was  our  next  stop.  A  Government  wireless 
station  is  located  at  this  point,  with  a  detail  of  nine  men 
from  the  United  States  army.  The  town  itself  was  once  a 
thriving  place,  but  now  it  is  barely  alive.  Just  below  it  is 


the  Indian  village  of  about  80.  The  Government  has  a  day 
school  there  in  charge  of  Mrs.  E.  E.  Eby.  There  are  three 
saloons  in  the  white  part  of  the  town,  and  the  Indians  get 
considerable  liquor  in  one  way  or  another — usually  from 
the  "Hootch  pedlars,"  or  "boot-leggers,"  as  they  are  called 
in  the  United  States.  The  Indians  are  unmoral.  Some 
of  the  men  will  peddle  their  wives  to  the  class  of  whites  who 
come  in  on  the  steamers  for  a  few  days,  or  the  "drifters" 
who  travel  down  the  river  in  small  boats. 

Tuberculosis,  in  one  form  or  another,  is  prevalent.  The 
only  medical  attention  received  by  the  Indians  is  that  ad- 
ministered through  the  school  teacher.  She  endeavored  to 
have  the  people  live  in  tents  during  the  summer,  but  most 
of  them  prefer  the  stuffy  cabins,  without  ventilation. 

Missionary  work  was  undertaken  at  this  point  by  the 
Episcopal  Church,  but  has  been  temporarily  abandoned, 
but  an  Indian  lay  reader,  Joe  Preacher,  holds  services  regu- 
larly. 

The  spring  flood  did  great  damage  at  Circle.  It  occurred 
just  one  month  prior  to  our  visit,  but  the  effects  were  every- 
where visible.  The  water  rose  six  feet  or  more  above  the 
high  banks,  and  flooded  the  lower  part  of  the  buildings  that 
were  not  on  the  higher  ground. 

FORT  YUKON  is  probably  the  largest  Indian  village  on 
the  river.  It  was  established  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
about  1847,  and  is  yet  the  main  fur  center  of  the  interior  of 
Alaska.  The  Indian  population  is  300,  with  25  whites 
who  can  be  regarded  as  permanent  residents.  The  Gov- 
ernment has  a  day  school  at  this  point.  The  headquarters 
of  the  Episcopal  mission  work  are  also  at  Fort  Yukon,  it 
being  the  home  of  Archdeacon  Stuck  and  Dr.  Graf  ton  Burke, 
the  medical  missionary. 

At  the  time  of  our  visit  it  was  a  hostile  camp,  due  to  the 
recent  controversy  in  the  courts  in  connection  with  the  ef- 
fort to  prevent  whites  from  having  the  Indian  women  as 
their  mistresses,  and  also  on  account  of  the  proceedings 
instituted  to  restrain  one  of  the  traders  from  locating  his 
store  in  the  Indian  village.  In  the  latter  case  the  court 


8 

issued  a  permanent  order  of  restraint  and  the  store  was 
built  outside  of  the  village  proper.  Shortly  after  this  con- 
troversy came  up  the  President  issued  an  executive  order 
setting  aside  a  small  tract  of  land  embracing  the  village  as  a 
reservation,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion, for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Indians  living  thereon; 
so  they  are  now  safe  from  the  intrusion  of  whites  who  wanted 
to  build  cabins  in  their  midst.  This  result  is  undoubtedly 
due  to  the  very  effective  efforts  of  Archdeacon  Stuck. 

It  should  be  noted  that  a  moral  wave  has  been  sweeping 
through  Alaska;  open  gambling  is  no  longer  carried  on; 
the  saloons  are  closed  on  Sunday,  and  in  some  sections  the 
existing  law  prohibiting  continuous  cohabitation  is  being 
enforced,  and  where  such  violations  are  reported,  it  usually 
results  in  the  man  marrying  the  woman  (either  white  or 
Indian)  or  else  leaving  for  parts  unknown.  A  certain  white 
man  at  Fort  Yukon  had  been  living  with  an  Indian  girl. 
Complaint  was  made  before  Dr.  Burke,  the  United  States 
Commissioner,  who  then  had  to  issue  a  warrant.  The  man 
was  bound  over  for  the  grand  jury,  which  met  last  winter 
in  Ruby.  It  appears  that  two  of  the  traders  went  on  the 
man's  bond.  The  mission  workers  are  blamed  for  what 
followed,  but  I  was  informed  that  the  United  States  Dis- 
trict Attorney's  office  at  Fairbanks  made  a  private  investi- 
gation and  submitted  evidence  to  the  Grand  Jury  indicating 
that  the  two  bondsmen  were  both  guilty  of  the  same  offense 
— one  of  them  living  with  an  Indian  woman  and  the  other 
with  a  white  woman.  All  three  were  indicted  and  the  trial 
came  up  in  Fairbanks.  One  of  the  indicted  bondsmen 
pleaded  guilty  and  married  the  woman  in  question.  The 
other  one  stood  trial  and  was  acquitted.  Later  he  married 
the  Indian  girl  with  whom  he  had  been  living,  although  he 
frankly  says  when  he  is  ready  to  leave  Alaska  he  will  desert 
her.  In  the  case  of  the  original  cause  of  the  trouble  he  was 
not  prosecuted  because  he  promised  to  marry  the  Indian 
girl — which  he  failed  to  do,  although  he  left  Yukon. 

Because  of  his  connection  with  the  case  as  United  States 
Commissioner,  the  element  that  has  not  taken  kindly  to  the 


enforcement  of  the  law  sought  to  have  Dr.  Burke  indicted. 
All  sorts  of  absurd  and  trivial  charges  were  brought  up,  and 
a  most  determined  effort  was  made  to  have  a  true  bill  re- 
turned, but  it  failed  largely  because  of  Dr.  Burke's  defense 
by  District  Attorney  Crossley.  It  is  significant  that  on 
that  grand  jury  were  five  men  who  were  under  investigation 
by  the  legal  authorities. 

As  a  result  of  this  trial  an  intense  and  bitter  feeling  grew 
up  toward  the  missionaries,  and  nowhere  was  it  more  pro- 
nounced than  at  Fort  Yukon.  In  many  respects  it  was 
unfortunate  that  some  one  other  than  Dr.  Burke  could  not 
have  been  selected  as  United  States  Commissioner;  this  is 
admitted  by  all  interested  in  the  mission,  but  there  was  no- 
body else  available,  and  he  was  forced  to  take  the  place. 
The  mission  people  have  been  severely  criticized  for  the 
part  they  had  to  take  in  the  matter,  but  it  was  a  case  of 
having  an  element  tearing  down  what  they  were  trying  to 
build  up,  and  so  they  did  police  work  that  belonged  to  others. 

On  our  way  down  the  Yukon  River  we  heard  all  sorts  of 
extravagant  and  slanderous  stories  about  Dr.  Burke,  and 
investigation  proved  them  to  be  either  grossly  exaggerated 
or  absolutely  without  foundation.  Dr.  Burke  had  been 
through  an  intense  strain,  and  he  was  on  the  verge  of  a 
nervous  collapse.  He  is  "going  out"  for  his  vacation  none 
too  soon. 

It  is  admitted  by  all  who  know  (the  missionaries  included) 
that  these  Yukon  River  Indians  are  absolutely  unmoral. 
Their  sexual  relations  are  promiscuous,  and  begin  at  an 
early  age.  One  of  the  missionaries  "called  the  roll"  of 
the  Indian  women  in  the  village,  and  out  of  50,  there  were 
only  three  named  who  could  be  regarded  as  virtuous,  and 
with  doubt  as  to  one  of  the  three. 

We  mingled  very  freely  with  the  whites  at  Fort  Yukon, 
and  they  talked  very  frankly  to  us  on  all  these  matters.  A 
number  of  them  have  good  traits,  but  the  majority  have  a 
"free  and  easy"  standard  of  morals,  and  according  to  their 
code  the  Indian  women  are  regarded  as  the  legitimate 
game  of  the  whites.  They  say  that  these  women  have 


10 

been  debauched  by  their  own  people,  and  that  the  whites 
cannot  spoil  anything  that  is  already  bad.  They  likewise 
bitterly  resent  Archdeacon  Stuck's  assertion  that  the  white 
men  at  Fort  Yukon  are  degenerates.  The  missionary  view 
of  the  matter  is  that  the  promiscuous  mixing  of  Indians  and 
whites  is  very  different  when  it  is  confined  to  the  Indians 
alone;  for  with  the  Indian,  his  moral  standard  is  en- 
tirely different  from  that  of  the  white  race;  and  he  has  not 
yet  risen  above  the  old  tribal  customs.  In  the  case  of  the 
white  man  these  relations  bring  whisky  and  disease. 

There  are  no  saloons  at  Fort  Yukon,  but  when  the  crowd 
becomes  thirsty  a  good  supply  of  liquor  is  brought  down  the 
river  from  Circle,  and  "a  good  time"  usually  follows. 
There  are  about  a  dozen  white  men  married  to  Indian  wom- 
en. Under  the  law  the  latter  take  the  status  of  their  hus- 
bands. Consequently  they  have  the  right  to  use  as  much 
liquor  as  they  can  get  hold  of.  It  is  suspected  that  some  of 
it  reaches  the  village  Indians  through  this  source. 

Of  course,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  deputy  United  States 
marshall  stationed  at  any  point  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the 
giving  or  selling  of  liquor  to  Indians.  The  former  incum- 
bent of  that  office  at  Fort  Yukon,  it  is  claimed,  not 
only  drank  heavily  and  gambled,  but  was  too  familiar 
with  some  of  the  Indian  women.  Just  before  he  left 
Yukon  he  got  beastly  drunk,  went  to  Dr.  Burke's  house, 
where  he  became  so  abusive  and  insulting  that  Dr.  Burke 
was  obliged  to  use  force,  and  with  good  effect,  to  dispose  of 
the  belligerent  deputy.  Later,  this  deputy  was  removed 
by  the  marshall  at  Fairbanks.  His  successor  is  a  man  who 
was  trained  as  a  gentleman  and  a  scholar,  but  his  own  habits 
are  such  that  he  is  hardly  likely  to  exert  himself  very  strenu- 
ously to  keep  liquor  away  from  the  Indians. 

Thinking  that  we  were  tourists  and  ready  for  experiences, 
we  were  invited  to  accompany  this  deputy  marshall  on  a 
trip  45  miles  below  Fort  Yukon,  to  arrest  a  man  for  whom 
a  warrant  had  been  issued.  The  man  in  question  was 
believed  to  be  insane.  We  joined  the  posse,  went  down  the 
river,  helped  to  find  the  man,  and  then  had  to  wait  on  a 


II 

small  island  for  five  days  until  the  steamer  came  along  to 
take  us  back  to  Fort  Yukon.  During  this  time  we  had 
ample  opportunity  to  study  these  men  at  close  range.  We 
took  our  turn  in  guarding  the  prisoner,  cooking,  and  any- 
thing else  that  was  necessary  in  camp  life.  It  was  interest- 
ing in  many  ways,  but  the  weather  was  hot  and  the  mosqui- 
toes thick  and  very  aggressive,  and  it  was  a  relief  to  leave  the 
place.  The  prisoner  was  formally  tried  before  Dr.  Burke, 
as  the  United  States  Commissioner,  and  adjudged  insane. 
Dr.  Burke  handled  the  case  in  a  direct  and  business-like 
manner,  and  showed  clearly  that  he  understood  his  duties — 
contrary  to  some  of  the  statements  that  had  been  made 
on  the  subject. 

Health  conditions  among  the  Indians  are  deplorable.  It 
is  estimated  that  75  per  cent,  of  the  village  have  tubercu- 
losis of  some  sort.  The  mission  expects  to  erect  a  hospital 
at  Fort  Yukon  of  sufficient  size  and  equipment  to  do  more 
effective  medical  work  for  the  natives.  It  is  certainly 
greatly  needed,  for  unless  the  ravages  of  disease  can  be 
checked,  it  will  not  be  long  before  the  need  for  schools  and 
missionary  work  will  be  a  thing  of  the  past — there  will  be 
practically  no  Indians  to  educate  or  Christianize. 

Dr.  Burke  and  his  wife  have  done  much  to  improve  the 
sanitary  conditions  of  the  village.  A  better  grade  of  cabins 
is  being  built  by  the  Indians,  with  two  rooms  instead  of 
one ;  and  most  of  the  cabins  now  have  some  form  of  ventila- 
tion. In  the  summer  the  Indians  are  encouraged  to  live 
in  tents,  and  quite  a  few  had  temporarily  abandoned  their 
cabins.  For  three  months,  at  least,  the  weather  is  very 
warm.  While  we  were  at  Fort  Yukon  the  mercury  was 
over  90  in  the  shade,  and  it  was  more  comfortable  sleeping 
in  the  open,  or  under  canvas,  than  in  the  stuffy  cabins. 

It  is  claimed  by  the  missionaries  that  there  is  now  less 
drinking  among  the  Fort  Yukon  Indians  than  a  year  ago; 
that  the  natives  themselves  seem  to  be  striving  for  better 
things.  They  have  a  Council  of  seven  members,  elected 
annually,  that  endeavors  to  deal  with  petty  offenses,  but 
its  powers  are  purely  those  of  moral  suasion.  From  the 


12 

time  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  establishment  of  this 
post  there  has  been  at  least  nominal  missionary  work  among 
this  band,  but  the  results  do  not  give  one  a  feeling  of  very 
great  enthusiasm.  The  Episcopal  Church  did  not  assume 
charge  of  this  field  until  about  ten  years  ago.  There  has 
undoubtedly  been  some  aggressive  work  done,  sufficient  to 
make  an  impression  on  the  minds  of  these  people ;  they  are 
apparently  devoted  to  the  Church  and  its  workers,  but 
probably  in  the  majority  of  cases  their  religion  is  a  mixture 
of  Christianity  and  paganism.  To  accomplish  definite 
results  time  will  be  required ;  it  cannot  be  done  in  the  twink- 
ling of  an  eye.  It  is  my  opinion  that  whoever  is  responsible 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  mission  work  should  realize  the 
conditions  that  exist  and  so  support  its  representatives  in 
the  field  that  they  will  not  often  be  compelled  to  spend  the 
best  part  of  their  time  in  routine  drudgery,  but  be  able  to 
give  their  undivided  attention  to  real  missionary  effort. 
All  the  Protestant  mission  stations  that  we  visited  in  the 
Alaska  interior  are  greatly  undermanned  and  the  workers 
inadequately  paid — this,  too,  in  a  country  where  every- 
thing in  the  way  of  living  or  traveling  is  extremely  high. 
The  army,  for  instance,  realizes  this,  and  when  men  are 
detailed  for  service  in  Alaska  they  are  given  extra  pay  and 
an  additional  allowance. 

The  Yukon  Flats  is  a  section  of  the  river  about  300  miles 
long,  and  in  some  places  the  water  spreads  out  over  a  width 
of  10  miles  or  more.  It  was  the  most  tedious  part  of  the 
river.  The  current  is  very  swift, — a  normal  flow  of  seven 
miles  an  hour, — and  when  it  spreads  out  in  various  direc- 
tions, each  branch  seemingly  strong,  it  is  somewhat  difficult 
to  follow  the  main  channel.  By  studying  the  river  and  its 
various  "ear-marks"  we  learned  pretty  well  how  to  avoid 
the  shallow  water  and  were  able  to  cover  the  entire  distance 
without  the  aid  of  a  pilot.  Occasionally  we  got  on  a  bar, 
but  it  was  not  a  difficult  matter  to  step  in  the  water  and 
push  the  boat  off  into  one  of  the  deeper  channels. 

STEPHENS  VILLAGE  was  our  next  main  stop.  There  are 
140  Indians  at  that  point,  living  in  the  usual  type  of  cabins. 


INDIAN  CABIN,  FORT  YUKON,  ALASKA. 


GOVERNMENT  SCHOOL,  FORT  YUKON,  ALASKA. 


13 

The  Government  had  a  school  there  for  some  years,  but  it 
was  burned  and  never  rebuilt  for  lack  of  funds.  Now  such 
schooling  as  the  children  receive  is  from  Miss  Jackson,  the 
Episcopal  missionary.  Incidentally,  she  is  the  only  white 
woman  in  the  place.  The  Indians  had  just  erected  a  new 
chapel,  built  of  logs,  of  which  they  are  proud.  Bishop 
Rowe  promised  them  the  necessary  door  and  window  sashes, 
and  they  are  looking  forward  with  much  eagerness  to  his 
coming. 

The  conditions  as  to  tuberculosis,  whisky,  morals,  etc., 
are  the  same  as  exist  elsewhere  along  the  river. 

RAMPART  was  once  a  large  and  prosperous  mining  camp ; 
now  there  are  not  more  than  125  white  inhabitants  there. 
The  Indian  population  is  50.  There  is  no  school  nor  any 
mission  work  at  present  being  conducted  there.  At  a  re- 
cent election  the  town  went  "dry,"  and  the  saloons  were 
closed.  As  to  morals,  it  is  the  same  story  as  up  the  river. 

ON  THE  TANANA  RIVER. 

At  Tanana  we  put  our  boat  on  the  steamer  and  went  up 
to  Fairbanks,  a  distance  of  280  miles;  fare,  $32.00  each. 
We  spent  two  days  with  Rev.  C.  E.  Betticher,  Jr.,  who  has 
had  supervision  of  the  Indian  work  in  the  Tanana  Valley,  and 
then  continued  our  journey  down  the  river.  I  had  hoped 
to  see  the  United  States  District  Attorney,  Mr.  Crossley, 
but  he  was  on  his  way  back  from  Washington.  The  vigor- 
ous manner  in  which  he  has  been  prosecuting  the  law-break- 
ers has  earned  for  him  the  enmity  of  the  liquor  element,  and 
they  were  doing  their  utmost  to  have  him  removed. 

CHENA. — This  is  a  town  12  miles  from  Fairbanks.  We 
stopped  there  to  see  Rev.  G.  H.  Madara,  who  has  succeeded 
Mr.  Betticher  as  supervisor  of  the  Indian  work  in  that 
section.  Mr.  Madara  has  been  in  the  field  for  seven  years, 
and  is  familiar  with  conditions.  He  admitted  that  these 
Indians  were  unmoral.  The  work  in  the  Tanana  Valley 
was  only  begun  eight  years  ago,  but  he  thinks  there  is  a 
slight  improvement  in  conditions.  About  15  of  the  In- 
dians have  taken  up  homesteads  of  160  acres,  and  Mr. 


14 

Madara  is  encouraging  this  plan,  in  the  absence  of  any  other 
protection  for  their  holdings.  There  is  no  physician  along 
the  Tanana  River. 

CHENA  VILLAGE  was  practically  deserted  when  we  stopped 
there,  the  Indians  being  spread  out  along  the  river  in  fish 
camps.  The  population  is  30. 

NENANA  is  the  main  Indian  settlement  along  the  Tanana 
River,  with  a  population  of  300.  A  better  grade  of  cabins 
is  being  built,  but  tuberculosis  is  prevalent,  and  conditions 
as  to  whisky  and  morals  are  about  the  same  as  in  other 
villages. 

The  Episcopal  Church  has  a  mission  at  Nenana,  formerly 
in  charge  of  Miss  Farthing,  who  died  there  a  few  years  ago. 
In  accordance  with  her  wish  she  was  buried  in  the  Indian 
cemetery,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  We  visited  her 
grave,  taking  along  a  party  of  the  Indian  girls,  who  picked 
wild  flowers  and  placed  them  at  the  foot  of  the  monument 
erected  to  Miss  Farthing's  memory.  The  present  local 
head  of  the  station  is  Miss  M.  S.  Grider,  a  former  social 
worker  in  Philadelphia.  A  boarding-school  is  maintained 
at  this  point  by  the  Church.  There  is  also  a  small  hospital 
in  charge  of  a  trained  nurse,  Miss  Bolster.  When  the  ser- 
vices of  a  physician  are  needed,  it  means  sending  to  Fair- 
banks for  one,  and,  owing  to  the  uncertainty  of  travel,  this 
involves  considerable  time. 

It  is  difficult  to  hold  the  girls  a  sufficient  length  of  time 
to  mold  their  characters.  They  usually  marry  at  a  very 
early  age — thirteen  or  fourteen.  The  alliance  of  white  and 
Indian  in  most  instances  is  one  of  convenience  for  the 
former,  who  deserts  the  woman  at  his  own  pleasure.  Fre- 
quently these  women  become  prostitutes,  or  else  form  an 
alliance  with  an  Indian,  which  has  to  be  winked  at  by  the 
mission  as  the  lesser  of  the  two  evils.  It  would  cost  $500  to 
secure  a  divorce,  which  is  prohibitive  for  this  class  of  In- 
dians. 

The  good  women  at  this  mission  are  compelled  to  spend 
much  of  their  time  in  routine  drudgery.  The  fact  that 
they  do  not  complain  does  not  alter  the  situation  that  the 


15 

station  is  so  undermanned.  They  should  be  in  a  position 
to  do  the  real  work  for  which  they  were  sent  if  the  best 
results  are  to  be  expected. 

TOLAVANA  is  a  small  village  below  Nenana,  containing 
40  Indians.  It  is  just  below  the  white  town.  Conditions 
are  no  different  from  those  already  described. 

CROSS  JACKET  is  a  new  settlement.  Many  Indians  are 
leaving  Tanana  for  this  site,  and  they  are  building  a  better 
grade  of  cabins. 

YUKON  RIVER  CONTINUED. 

TANANA  is  the  "  Hub  "  of  the  interior.  The  Tanana  River 
empties  into  the  Yukon  there,  and  transportation  starts  up 
or  down  the  Yuikon  from  that  point.  The  town  itself  is 
made  up  of  stores,  a  few  small  hotels,  and  five  or  six  saloons. 
Below  is  Fort  Gibbon,  where  a  company  of  United  States 
troops  is  stationed.  Three  miles  above  is  the  Indian 
village,  where  the  Episcopal  Church  has  a  station — the 
Mission  of  Our  Saviour.  The  plant  is  the  best  we  saw  in  the 
interior.  The  chapel  is  a  beautiful  one — commodious  and 
well  arranged,  a  memorial  to  Mary  Golden  King,  of  New 
York.  The  hospital  was  totally  destroyed  by  fire  in  Jan- 
uary, 1914,  but  plans  have  been  made  for  rebuilding  it  as 
soon  as  possible.  The  work  is  now  in  charge  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Maloney,  with  Deaconess  Pick  and  Miss  Tait,  a  trained 
nurse,  as  helpers.  The  mission  has  no  physician,  but  the 
army  surgeon,  Dr.  Pierson,  who  was  stationed  at  Fort 
Gibbon  for  the  past  three  years,  took  a  great  interest  in  the 
work  and  was  ready  at  all  times  to  give  his  services  for  surgi- 
cal or  medical  cases.  Dr.  Pierson  has  since  been  trans- 
ferred elsewhere,  and  whether  his  successor  will  be  as  help- 
ful remains  to  be  seen.  In  my  judgment  it  is  a  mistake  for 
the  churches  to  construct  hospitals  and  not  supply  com- 
petent physicians,  especially  in  a  country  where  the  medical 
needs  are  so  great.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  when  the  hospital 
at  Tanana  is  completed  the  way  will  be  open  to  put  a  high- 
grade  physician  in  charge. 

Title  for  the  ground  occupied  by  the  mission  and  the 


16 

village  is  vested  in  the  Church;  the  Indians  live  there 
really  as  the  mission's  guests.  There  are  about  200  natives. 
The  moral  and  physical  conditions  are  similar  to  those  exist- 
ing elsewhere  along  the  river. 

Delegates  from  the  villages  within  a  radius  of  100  miles 
from  Tanana  had  a  meeting  at  that  point  July  2-6.  There 
is  a  feeling  among  some  of  them  that  they  ought  to  be  citi- 
zens, with  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  such;  and  that 
they  also  should  have  a  representative  in  Washington  to 
look  after  their  interests.  They  are  beginning  to  realize 
that  protection  is  needed  for  their  land  and  fishing  rights, 
since  some  of  them  have  had  trouble  with  the  whites,  who 
sought  to  crowd  them  away  from  their  fish  camps — sites 
which  they  had  occupied  for  many  years.  These  Indians 
are  mild  mannered,  and  rather  than  take  an  aggressive 
stand  for  their  rights  when  any  controversy  arises,  they 
ordinarily  yield  to  the  white  man. 

We  had  several  interesting  interviews  with  Father  Jette, 
a  Roman  Catholic  priest  who  has  been  stationed  along  the 
Yukon  and  interior  points  for  seventeen  years.  He  is  not 
very  optimistic  as  to  the  future  of  these  natives. 

KOKRINES  is  a  village  of  about  140  Indians.  There  is  a 
Government  school-house,  but  it  has  been  without  a  teacher 
for  over  a  year,  owing  to  a  lack  of  funds.  Some  missionary 
work  is  attempted  by  the  Roman  Catholics,  under  the 
direction  of  Father  Jardines,  who  is  stationed  at  Ruby, 
about  40  miles  below.  I  visited  the  chapel,  but  it  did  not 
look  as  though  services  were  held  very  often.  These  In- 
dians, like  the  others,  are  unmoral,  and  they  manage  to  get 
considerable  liquor,  directly  and  indirectly,  from  Ruby; 
some  of  them  have  been  known  to  return  from  that  place 
with  five  or  ten  gallons  at  a  time.  Everywhere  it  is  stated 
that  when  a  " hootch  peddler"  is  arrested  by  the  authorities 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  secure  a  conviction,  since  the 
Indian  testimony  will  not  be  accepted  by  the  average  jury. 

RUBY  was  once  a  thriving  and  populous  mining  town,  but 
now  there  are  only  about  200  whites  living  in  it.  We  met 
some  of  the  old-timers,  who  were  well  informed  regarding 


17 

general  conditions.  It  was  their  opinion  that  the  Indians 
could  get  all  the  liquor  they  wanted  at  Ruby,  for  which 
they  usually  paid  extravagant  prices.  Stationed  in  the 
town  was  a  special  officer  for  the  suppression  of  the  liquor 
traffic  among  the  Indians,  whose  duty  it  was  to  patrol  the 
Yukon  River  for  a  radius  of  50  miles  up  and  down  the 
stream.  He  had  no  launch  in  which  he  could  cover  the 
river  points,  and  most  of  his  time  was  spent  in  watching  the 
beach  and  the  main  street  of  the  town.  He  had  several 
suspects  bound  over  by  the  United  States  Commissioner, 
but  one-third  of  the  jury  selected  to  try  these  cases  are 
saloon-men.  This  liquor  suppression  work  is  entirely 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Governor  of  Alaska. 

YUKAKACAT,  24  miles  below  Ruby,  is  a  settlement  of  30 
Indians.  They  are  fairly  industrious  for  indefinite  periods, 
but  too  much  of  their  earnings  is  spent  for  whisky.  There 
is  no  school  or  mission  at  this  point.  The  usual  conditions 
as  to  health  and  morals  were  evident. 

LOUDEN  is  a  small  village  on  the  hillside,  with  25  cabins 
and  a  population  of  100  Indians.  A  Government  telegraph 
station  is  located  here.  The  Bureau  of  Education  has  a 
school-house  in  the  village,  but  it  has  been  without  a  teacher 
for  over  a  year  on  account  of  insufficient  funds.  The  mis- 
sion work  is  under  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  A  priest 
is  supposed  to  visit  the  town  twice  a  month.  There  is  no 
improvement  on  what  we  found  all  the  way  down  the  river 
as  to  health,  drink,  and  morals. 

KOYUKUK  was  the  next  point  we  visited.  The  Indian 
population  is  100.  There  are  five  white  men  (storekeepers, 
etc.)  living  there,  but  not  one  white  woman.  The  Bureau 
of  Education  has  a  school-house  there,  but  it  has  been  with- 
out a  teacher  for  more  than  two  years  for  lack  of  money. 
Mission  work  is  under  the  direction  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  but  no  religious  service  has  been  held  for  a  year. 
The  sanitary  conditions  are  bad;  the  moral  atmosphere  is 
similar  to  the  other  points,  and  it  is  "wide  open"  in  the  use 
of  whisky.  A  man  who  ought  to  be  well  informed  told  us 
of  one  case  where  an  Indian  spent  $500  for  one  load  of 


18 

whisky  brought  down  from  Ruby  by  a  white  man.  What 
followed  the  introduction  of  this  liquor  can  well  be  imagined. 
There  is  also  a  Government  telegraph  station  at  Koyukuk. 
It  is  the  junction  point  for  travel  up  the  Koyukuk  River  to 
the  mining  section. 

NULATO  has  an  Indian  population  of  300.  There  is 
considerable  Russian  blood  among  these  people,  and  they 
seem  more  sturdy  physically.  The  village  is  badly  con- 
gested, and  the  sanitary  conditions  are  very  unwholesome. 
The  Bureau  of  Education  has  a  neat-looking  hospital  at 
Nulato,  with  an  equipment  for  some  effective  work,  but  the 
physician  in  charge  seemed  to  us  so  lazy  and  indifferent  that 
very  little  was  being  accomplished.  The  Indians  were 
much  opposed  to  him ;  they  said  that  when  the  people  are 
sick  he  would  not  visit  them,  but  insisted  that  they  should 
come  to  the  hospital,  regardless  of  the  nature  of  the  illness. 
They  preferred  to  go  to  the  Hospital  Steward  of  the  wire- 
less station  and  pay  for  treatment  rather  than  go  to  this 
doctor  without  cost.  We  learned  before  reaching  Nulato 
how  he  had  been  intoxicated  at  Tanana,  and  in  a  very  quar- 
relsome mood,  and  heard  things  that  did  not  speak  well  for 
his  ability.  This  was  pretty  well  confirmed  by  what  we 
saw  and  learned  at  Nulato.  (Later  on  we  took  the  matter 
up  with  the  District  Superintendent  and  the  chief  of  the 
Alaska  Division  in  Seattle,  and  the  man  was  promptly 
displaced.) 

The  Government  school  work  is  conducted  through  an 
arrangement  with  the  Roman  Catholic  Mission  at  Nulato. 
The  mission  building  is  used  for  the  purpose,  and  the  Bu- 
reau pays  the  salary  of  Sister  Winifred,  who  acts  as  teacher. 
The  Bureau  also  furnishes  the  necessary  school  supplies. 

At  one  time  there  was  a  saloon  at  Nulato, — which  has  a 
white  population  of  25, — but  the  license  was  not  renewed. 
It  is  claimed  that  there  is  less  drinking  than  formerly,  be- 
cause the  source  of  the  supply  is  not  so  accessible,  and  the 
people  must  largely  depend  on  the  "hootch  peddlers." 
The  present  United  States  Marshall  has  been  very  active 


19 

and  energetic,  and  has  kept  the  liquor  traffic  pretty  well  in 
hand. 

There  is  much  tuberculosis  of  one  kind  or  another,  and 
no  improvement  in  the  moral  life  of  the  people. 

At  Nulato,  as  is  the  case  elsewhere,  quite  a  few  of  the 
Indians  earn  a  goodly  sum  from  their  winter's  trappings, 
but  they  are  largely  improvident,  and  much  of  their  money 
is  soon  dissipated  by  "potlatches,"  or  feasts,  to  which 
everybody  is  invited.  All  who  come  are  given  presents. 
Some  of  the  Indians  will  spend  as  much  as  $500  or  $600  on 
one  "potlatch."  It  develops  into  a  contest  of  lavish  enter- 
tainment, with  each  one  trying  to  surpass  his  neighbor's 
party. 

There  is  a  Government  wireless  station  at  Nulato,  with  a 
detail  of  nine  soldiers. 

KALTAG  is  a  village  of  100  Indians.  There  is  no  school 
for  the  children.  The  Indians  are  industrious,  but  the  usual 
conditions  as  to  morals,  liquor,  and  health  were  found. 

ANVIK  was  the  last  village  we  visited  coming  down  the 
Yukon  River.  There  is  a  population  of  200.  A  mission- 
ary of  the  Episcopal  Church,  Rev.  John  W.  Chapman,  has 
been  located  at  this  point  for  twenty-seven  years.  He 
conducts  a  boarding-school  and  has  20  pupils.  Health 
conditions  are  poor  on  account  of  bad  sanitation.  There  is 
said  to  be  less  drinking,  because  the  source  of  supply  is  so 
far  distant.  There  is  much  tuberculosis  among  this  band, 
and  mortality  is  very  high  with  the  children.  The  young 
people  are  without  morals,  but  Mr.  Chapman  thinks  that 
there  is  an  improvement  in  the  older  natives.  When  he 
began  his  work  the  Indians  lived  in  dugouts,  or  "holes  in 
the  ground."  Now  they  have  cabins.  Personal  cleanliness 
was  not  then  known;  there  has  been  much  improvement 
along  that  line.  It  took  much  time  and  persistent  effort  to 
make  any  impression  on  the  people.  In  the  absence  of  any 
physician  within  reach  Mr.  Chapman  has  had  to  act  as  the 
"medicine  man."  Under  Mr.  Chapman's  supervision  are 
a  number  of  outlying  villages,  which  he  visits  regularly — 
within  a  radius  of  50  miles. 


20 

HOLY  CROSS  was  the  end  of  our  river  trip  in  the  small 
boat.  We  reached  there  one  Friday  evening,  expecting  to 
have  several  days  before  the  steamer  came  along  for  St. 
Michael,  which  would  have  allowed  us  time  to  get  in  per- 
sonal touch  with  the  school  work  at  this  point  as  conducted 
by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  Early  the  following  morn- 
ing, however,  there  was  a  vigorous  cry  of  "steamboat!" 
There  are  no  telegraphic  lines  at  Holy  Cross,  and  the  White 
Pass  agent  does  not  know  until  a  boat  actually  arrives  any- 
thing about  the  transportation  service.  His  advice  to  us 
was  to  act  on  the  Alaska  slogan  to  "take  the  first  thing  going 
your  way,"  that  anything  else  was  pure  speculation.  There 
was  also  much  uncertainty  regarding  the  boats  sailing  from 
St.  Michael  to  Seattle,  and  we  were  informed  that  if  we 
missed  the  "next"  one  it  would  probably  mean  a  wait  of 
weeks;  there  were  usually  only  two  sailings  a  month. 
Naturally  we  decided  to  board  the  "Washburn,"  which 
was  going  down  the  Yukon  River. 

However,  at  St.  Michael  we  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
Father  Sifton,  in  charge  of  the  work  at  Holy  Cross.  The 
mission  plant  is  well  located  and  presents  a  fine  appearance 
from  the  river. 

Father  Sifton  told  us  that  the  village  around  the  mission 
contained  175  people,  half  Indians  and  half  Eskimos,  Holy 
Cross  being  the  dividing  line  between  the  two  classes  of 
natives.  The  boarding-school  has  an  enrolment  of  120 
children.  The  mission  has  eight  sisters  and  a  number  of 
lay  brothers,  in  addition  to  the  priest  in  charge.  The  school 
takes  care  of  many  orphan  children,  and  the  pupils  come 
from  any  section  of  the  Territory.  The  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion pays  the  salaries  of  two  teachers  for  eight  months  in 
the  year,  and  also  furnishes  the  necessary  school  supplies. 
The  mission  provides  the  building. 

Father  Sifton  said  the  greatest  trouble  among  the  people 
was  whisky  and  the  "Yukon  Hobo" — the  disreputable 
scum  that  drifts  down  the  river.  Many  of  that  class  of 
whites,  he  said,  regarded  the  native  women  as  being  raised 
for  their  particular  benefit.  One  man  came  to  the  school 


INDIAN  "Fisn  WHEEL"  FOR  CATCHING  SALMON,  TANANA  RIVER,  ALASKA. 


INDIANS  CURING  FISH,  NEAR  KALTAG,  ALASKA. 


21 

and  said  he  wanted  a  certain  girl.  He  was  asked,  "  Do  you 
want  to  marry  her?"  His  reply  was,  "Well,  I  don't  know 
about  that,  but  I  want  to  live  with  her  for  a  few  months." 

ST.  MICHAEL. — We  had  to  spend  a  full  week  at  this  point, 
waiting  for  the  boat  for  Seattle.  We  found  that  the  Bureau 
of  Education  was  conducting  a  school  for  the  Eskimos  living 
in  a  village  at  the  edge  of  the  town,  and  we  made  several 
visits  to  the  two  camps.  The  day  school  is  in  charge  of 
Mr.  Allen,  a  bright,  energetic  young  man,  who,  with  his 
wife,  seems  well  qualified  for  the  work.  The  Bureau  has  a 
very  capable  nurse,  Mrs.  Jordan,  with  whom  we  got  ac- 
quainted. There  were  a  number  of  cases  on  which  she 
wished  advice,  and  Dr.  Carrington  visited  them  with  her. 

St.  Michael  is  a  military  reservation  at  which  is  sta- 
tioned a  detachment  of  United  States  soldiers,  and  the 
town  is  under  military  rule.  There  are  no  saloons,  and  the 
natives  (of  whom  there  are  150)  do  not  get  very  much  liquor. 
The  commanding  officers  of  the  post  have  maintained  strict 
discipline,  and  dealt  severely  with  any  cases  that  came  to 
light  of  the  soldiers  going  with  the  native  women;  conse- 
quently the  conditions  are  fairly  decent  in  that  respect. 

Dr.  Thomas  L.  Fernbaugh,  the  army  surgeon  at  the  post, 
is  greatly  interested  in  the  natives.  He  was  formerly 
stationed  at  Fort  Sill,  Oklahoma,  and  was  well  acquainted 
with  most  of  the  former  Apache  prisoners  of  war.  He  has 
been  ready  at  all  times  to  do  what  he  could  for  the  cases 
brought  to  his  notice  by  Mrs.  Jordan,  but  there  are  no  facili- 
ties at  the  post  to  take  them  in  the  army  hospital.  Re- 
cently a  small  cabin  has  been  secured  by  the  Bureau  as  a 
dispensary,  but  it  is  hardly  large  enough  to  permit  of  any 
surgical  work. 

We  also  met  at  St.  Michael  Mr.  A.  W.  Evans,  the  Bureau's 
supervisor  for  the  district  along  the  upper  coast  and  up  the 
Yukon  River  as  far  as  Nulato.  He  admitted  that  the  con- 
ditions on  the  Yukon  were  very  unsatisfactory,  and  stated 
that  his  Bureau  had  been  unable,  for  lack  of  funds,  to  make 
proper  provision  for  the  field.  The  health  conditions  had 
been  fully  investigated  by  a  physician  detailed  from  the 
3 


22 

Public  Health  Service,  and  funds  ($125,000)  were  asked  to 
cope  with  the  situation.  Congress  refused  to  appropriate 
any  money  for  this  purpose,  and  the  Bureau  was  therefore 
helpless. 

Mr.  Evans  recognized  the  need  for  some  action  to  protect 
the  land  and  fishing  interests  of  the  Yukon  River  Indians. 
The  matter  had  been  taken  up,  but  the  Land  Office  was 
hostile  to  setting  aside  the  land  described  for  the  benefit  of 
the  natives.  Nothing  has  yet  been  accomplished. 

Archdeacon  Stuck  reached  St.  Michael  the  day  before 
we  left,  and  we  had  a  number  of  long  conferences  with  him. 

The  toal  cost  of  our  boat,  motor  and  fittings,  laid  down 
in  Eagle,  Alaska,  was  $241.50.  At  the  second  place  we 
stopped  we  arranged  to  sell  the  outfit  for  $200.  When  we 
ended  our  trip  at  Holy  Cross  we  shipped  the  boat  and  the 
motor  up  to  the  purchaser  and  received  the  money,  by 
wireless  authority,  when  we  reached  St.  Michael. 

We  boarded  the  S.  S.  "Senator"  Sunday  evening,  August 
2d.  The  following  morning  we  arrived  at  Nome,  where 
the  boat  remained  at  anchor  in  the  harbor  until  about  10 
o'clock  p.  M.  We  went  ashore  in  the  tender  to  visit  the 
Eskimo  village  on  the  "Sand  Spit." 

NOME. — In  company  with  Dr.  D.  S.  Neuman,  the  con- 
tract physician  of  the  Bureau  of  Education,  we  visited  the 
Eskimo  village.  The  summer  population  is  close  to  1200, 
as  many  natives  come  in  from  King  Island  and  elsewhere  to 
dispose  of  their  handiwork — moccasins,  beads,  and  ivory 
carvings.  In  winter  the  number  is  about  500.  Dr.  Neu- 
man is  a  scientific,  high-grade  man,  who  apparently  takes  a 
deep  interest  in  his  work  for  the  natives.  He  knows  nearly 
every  one  of  them  by  name,  and  the  condition  of  the  cabins 
and  tents  we  visited  showed  his  activity  and  influence  with 
these  people. 

We  left  Nome  on  August  3d  and  arrived  at  Seattle  on  the 
twelfth  of  that  month. 

I  feel  that  I  owe  a  great  deal  to  Dr.  Carrington  for  his 
help  in  making  our  trip  a  success.  He  is  an  experienced 
traveler  and  investigator,  a  good  companion,  a  competent 


23 

physician  and  surgeon,  resourceful  and  ingenious  in  a  me- 
chanical way,  with  a  thorough  knowledge  of  gasoline  en- 
gines. No  matter  what  the  hardships  or  discomforts,  Dr. 
Carrington  shared  them  with  philosophic  good  nature. 
He  did  his  full  share  of  the  work  involved  on  the  trip. 

The  Alaska  Division  of  the  Bureau  of  Education  exer- 
cises jurisdiction  of  the  natives  of  the  Territory.  It  is  a 
pleasure  for  me  to  bear  testimony  to  the  splendid  work  that 
Bureau  is  attempting  to  do  for  the  30,000  Indians  and  Eski- 
mos under  very  adverse  circumstances.  Over  70  schools 
are  maintained,  and  several  hospitals  have  been  established. 
When  it  is  realized  that  Alaska  is  one-fifth  as  large  as  the 
United  States,  and  that  the  entire  coast  line  is  probably  a 
matter  of  20,000  miles,  the  extent  of  the  Bureau's  work 
may  be  understood.  Then  consider  that  for  this  vast  field 
the  Bureau  has  but  $200,000  annually,  and  some  of  its 
difficulties  can  be  appreciated.  For  a  country  where  ex- 
travagant prices  are  charged  for  everything  it  is  necessary  to 
economize  to  the  quick  in  every  direction,  even  to  paying 
some  of  the  teachers  eight  or  nine  months  for  a  year's  work. 
The  army  gives  its  soldiers  extra  pay  and  additional  allow- 
ance for  Alaska  service,  but  many  of  the  Bureau's  employees 
do  not  receive  a  normal  wage.  To  dp  the  work  required  in 
Alaska  the  appropriation  should  be  at  least  $500,000. 

The  Public  Health  Service  loaned  Dr.  Krulish,  one  of  its 
physicians,  to  the  Alaska  Bureau  to  go  over  the  Territory. 
He  made  a  thorough  investigation  and  a  report  on  health 
conditions  of  the  natives,  showing  a  deplorable  situation 
calling  for  urgent  action.  Congress  was  asked  for  an  ap- 
propriation to  enable  the  Bureau  to  do  effective  medical 
work,  but  not  a  dollar  was  granted  for  this  great  need.  If 
the  ravages  of  tuberculosis,  trachoma,  and  kindred  diseases 
are  to  be  effectively  checked  or  eradicated,  favorable  action 
should  be  promptly  taken  by  Congress  on  the  recommenda- 
tions of  Dr.  Krulish.  Otherwise  the  number  of  natives  of 
Alaska  in  need  of  education  and  Christianity  will  be  a  dimin- 
ishing quantity. 


24 

To  summarize  the  situation,  in  my  judgment  the  present 
urgent  needs  of  these  Indians  are : 

1.  Protection  for  their  homes  and  fish  camps. 

2.  Better  enforcement  of  liquor  laws  by  men  free  from 
local  influence — by  a  force  similar  to  the  Northwest  Mounted 
Police. 

3.  Enforcement  of  game  laws  prohibiting  the  use  of  poi- 
son in  catching  fur-bearing  animals. 

4.  Increased  appropriation  for  the  Bureau  of  Education. 

5.  The  establishment  of  a  number  of  small  hospitals  in 
charge  of  competent  physicians. 

6.  That   the   churches   conducting  missionary  work   in 
Alaska  should  properly  equip  their  stations  with  a  sufficient 
number  of  workers  more  effectively  to  deal  with  existing 
conditions. 

Respectfully  submitted, 
August  ji,  1914.  M.  K.  SNIFFEN. 


HEALTH    CONDITIONS    AMONG   THE    ALASKAN 

INDIANS  ALONG  THE  YUKON  AND  TANANA 

RIVERS. 

REPORT  OF  DR.  THOMAS  SPEES  CARRINGTON. 

To  THE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE,  INDIAN  RIGHTS  ASSOCIA- 
TION, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Gentlemen:  Before  Mr.  Sniffen  and  I  made  the  survey  of 
the  Indian  villages  along  the  Yukon  and  Lower  Tanana 
Rivers  in  Alaska  it  was  understood  that,  should  we  agree 
upon  the  general  conditions  observed  during  the  investi- 
gation, I  would  indorse  Mr.  Sniffen's  report  to  your  Com- 
mittee, and  also  write  a  special  report  on  the  health  of  the 
Indians  and  the  sanitary  conditions  under  which  they  are 
living. 

During  our  journey  Mr.  Sniffen  and  I  discussed  every 
phase  of  the  investigation,  and  after  each  visit  to  a  settle- 
ment reviewed  together  the  material  collected.  A  large 


25 

part  of  the  information  was  obtained  through  interviews 
with  officials,  missionaries,  traders,  trappers,  squaw  men, 
and  Indians.  When  we  noticed  a  cabin  or  camp  on  the 
banks  of  the  rivers  between  the  villages  we  usually  stopped 
for  a  chat  with  the  owner.  After  these  interviews  the  in- 
formation obtained  was  discussed  by  us  until  we  came  to  an 
agreement  as  to  the  probable  causes  of  existing  conditions 
observed  in  the  district.  For  these  reasons  I  feel  that  I 
can  heartily  indorse  Mr.  Sniff  en's  report  to  your  Committee. 
In  making  my  investigation  I  endeavored  to  obtain  in- 
formation on  four  special  subjects,  as  follows: 

A.  The  sanitary  condition  of  the  villages  and  camps. 

B.  The  hygienic  conditions  of  the  individual. 

C.  The  health  of  the  individual. 

D.  The  increase  or  decrease  in  the  population. 

In  order  to  obtain  this  information  I  made  a  careful 
sanitary  survey  of  about  20  villages  and  probably  as  many 
or  more  summer  encampments,  inspecting  the  interiors  of 
such  dwellings  as  could  be  tactfully  entered.  Further, 
with  the  assistance  of  either  the  Government  teacher,  the 
visiting  nurse,  or  a  missionary  I  held  free  clinics  in  the 
school-house  or  dispensary  of  the  larger  villages,  and  after 
the  clinics  visited  the  homes  of  patients  who  were  too  ill  to 
come  to  the  dispensary.  In  this  way  we  obtained  invita- 
tions to  enter  dwellings  which,  otherwise,  probably  would 
not  have  been  open  to  us.  The  clinics,  besides  helping  us  to 
obtain  a  welcome  and  courteous  treatment  from  the  In- 
dians, gave  me  a  good  opportunity  to  study  the  prevailing 
diseases  and  draw  out  through  questions  the  medical  his- 
tory of  many  of  the  families  in  the  settlements. 

A.  THE  SANITARY  CONDITION  OF  THE  VILLAGES  AND 
CAMPS. 

The  sanitary  condition  of  both  the  permanent  and  tem- 
porary settlements  is  much  alike,  and  the  remarks  and 
description  that  follow  apply  to  all  we  visited  unless  other- 
wise stated. 

I.  Drainage. — The  ground  in  Alaska  is  usually  frozen  to  a 


26 

great  depth.  This  is  shown  in  the  mining  operations,  for 
dirt  and  gravel  must  be  thawed  before  it  can  be  removed, 
even  when  100  feet  or  more  below  the  surface.  In  the  river 
valleys  during  the  summer  months  the  top  layers  of  the  soil 
thaw  out,  generally  to  a  depth  of  two  or  three  feet.  This 
causes  the  surface  of  the  ground  to  become  wet  and  swampy, 
with  many  pools  of  standing  water  that  do  not  dry  up  dotted 
over  it.  These  pools  become  the  breeding  places  for  swarms 
of  mosquitos,  and  in  other  ways  cause  unhealthy  conditions 
on  the  sites  of  settlements.  Many  of  the  permanent  vil- 
lages are  built  on  ground  of  this  character,  and  these  con- 
ditions can  be  greatly  improved  without  much  effort  or  ex- 
pense by  draining  with  ditches.  I  particularly  noticed 
pools  of  dirty,  stagnant  water  on  both  permanent  and 
temporary  sites  of  settlements  which  might  be  drained  in 
less  than  an  hour  by  the  work  of  two  or  three  persons. 

2.  Toilet  Facilities. — In  none  of  the  settlements,  either 
permanent  or  temporary,  did  I  notice  a  privy  or  other 
shelter  for  toilet  purposes.     In  many  places  the  inhabitants 
use  the  ground  behind  their  dwellings,  or  at  best  a  nearby 
clump  of  bushes. 

3.  Water  Supply. — Drinking-water   and   water   for  do- 
mestic purposes  is  usually  obtained  from  the  river  in  front 
of  the  settlement,  and  during  the  summer  months  there  is 
probably  no  danger  from  a  polluted  water  supply.     How- 
ever, after  the  river  freezes  the  water  is  obtained  from  holes 
in  the  ice.     We  were  told  that  it  is  a  custom  to  throw  refuse 
over  the  bank  and  onto  the  ice  in  order  that  it  may  be 
carried  away  when  the  "breakup"  comes  in  the  spring. 
Dead  animals  and  heavy  offensive  material,  when  not  left 
around  the  cabins,  are  also  hauled  out  upon  the  ice.     As  the 
weather  moderates  the  top  of  the  ice  begins  to  melt,  and  the 
resulting  water  from  around  refuse  often  drains  into  the 
holes  from  which  the  water  supply  for  the  village  is  obtained. 

4.  Dog  Kennels. — Many  large  dogs  are  kept  in  every 
settlement.     In  general,  they  are  tied  up  in  front  of  the 
owner's  dwellings,  or  are  at  large  in  and  around  the  build- 
ings.    During  the  winter,  at  the  permanent  villages,  in 


27 

many  instances  they  are  housed  in  kennels  placed  to  the 
rear  or  between  the  cabins.  So  far  as  I  was  able  to  observe 
there  is  no  effort  made  to  keep  the  ground  clean  where  the 
animals  are  tethered.  I  was  informed  that  during  the 
winter  months  frozen  urine  accumulates  at  the  corners  of 
the  kennels  in  large  cakes,  often  two  or  more  feet  in  height, 
and  not  being  removed,  melts  as  the  weather  moderates, 
causing  offensive  and  unsanitary  conditions. 

5.  Dwelling  Interiors. — The  cabins  are  built  of  logs.     The 
older  ones  consist  of  a  single  room,  and  both  sexes  of  all 
ages  sleep  crowded  together  in  them.     These  single-room 
cabins  and  the  tents  without  interior  partitions  are  consid- 
ered by  the  social  workers  to  be  one  of  the  causes  for  the 
unmoral  condition  of  the  Indian.     In  most  of  the  villages 
overcrowding  is  a  common  condition.     During  the  seasons 
when  all  the  inhabitants  are  at  home,  and  especially  when  a 
"potlatch"  is  in  progress,  we  were  told  the  cabins  are 
crowded  to  their  utmost  capacity,  the  inmates  sleeping  in 
rows  and  occupying  the  entire  floor  area.     Through  the 
influence  of  the  missionaries  in  some  of  the  communities 
two-room  cabins  are  now  being  built,  in  order  that  the 
women  and  children  may  have  more  privacy. 

6.  Ventilation  of  Dwellings. — The  Indian  does  not  seem  to 
notice  overheated  or  foul  air  in  his  dwelling,  and  the  prob- 
lem of  ventilating  his  cabin,  particularly  through  the  winter 
months,  is  hard  to  solve.     The  temperature  during  this 
season  ranges  from  zero  Fahrenheit  to  70°  below  zero,  and 
warmth  and  comfort  are  obtained  by  excluding  fresh  outside 
air.     Closing  every  opening  tightly  has  become  such  a  habit 
that  it  seems  impossible  to  teach  him  to  open  up  his  cabin 
even  in  warm  weather.     Our  visits  were  generally  made  in 
the  middle  of  the  day,  at  a  season  of  the  year  when  the 
temperature  out-of-doors  ranges  around  70°  and  delightful 
atmospheric  conditions  prevail.     Still  we  found  practically 
all  the  cabins  tightly  closed,  and  in. many  of  them  women 
cooking  over  hot  stoves  that  made  the  interiors  stifling. 
While  we  were  with  the  missionaries  or  teachers  in  some 
villages,  they  urged  the  Indians  to  move  into  their  summer 


28 

camps.  It  was  already  late  in  the  season  for  this  change, 
but  the  Indians  did  not  seem  to  have  any  great  desire  to 
leave  their  cabins  for  life  in  the  open  air. 

B.  THE  HYGIENIC  CONDITIONS  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL. 

Under  this  heading  I  have  grouped  together  the  facts 
regarding  the  food,  clothing,  care  of  the  body,  and  habits 
and  customs  that  bear  upon  the  health  of  the  individual 
Indian.  A  part  of  this  information  was  obtained  from  the 
whites  who  have  lived  among  the  natives  for  years,  and  the 
balance  from  my  own  observations  made  during  visits  to 
the  settlements. 

I.  Food. — The  health  of  the  Indian  is  probably  not  af- 
fected by  the  quality  or  variety  of  his  food,  for  supplies  can 
be  obtained  without  difficulty  when  money  is  plentiful. 
The  native  in  a  large  measure  follows  the  ways  of  the  white 
man  in  making  his  purchases ;  however,  he  holds  to  a  prac- 
tice called  "potlatching,"  which  is  objectionable  and  does 
affect  his  health.  This  custom  has  many  superstitions 
connected  with  it,  and  consists  in  giving  a  great  feast  to 
one's  neighbors,  friends,  and  invited  guests  from  other 
settlements. 

Usually  the  manner  in  which  the  Indian  earns  his  living 
is  such  that  his  money  reaches  him  in  lump  sums.  This  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  he  sells  his  fish  and  furs  in  bulk  after 
the  seasons  for  fishing  and  trapping  are  over,  or  delivers  at 
certain  times  a  specified  amount  of  wood  which  he  has  cut 
on  contract.  With  a  goodly  sum  in  hand  he  becomes  un- 
easy, for  he  adheres  to  a  community  life  and  does  not  know 
how  to  save  money.  He  therefore  prepares  to  give  a 
"potlatch."  Hoping  to  outshine  his  neighbors,  he  will 
spend  all  the  money  he  has  earned  and  all  he  can  borrow, 
as  well  as  any  credit  he  may  have  at  the  local  stores. 
These  feasts  last  for  days,  until  all  the  supplies  are  exhausted. 
Then  the  family  giving  the  entertainment  lives  on  low  ra- 
tions until  its  members  are  invited  to  a  "potlatch." 

Potlatching,  therefore,  has  forced  the  Indian  into  an 
existence  consisting  of  alternating  periods  of  feasting  and 


STEPHEN'S  VILLAGE,  ON  YUKON  RIVER,  ALASKA. 


INDIAN  VILLAGE  ON  YUKON  RIVER— LOUDEN,  ALASKA. 


29 

fasting,  during  which  he  is  either  gorging  himself  and  over- 
taxing his  digestive  organs,  or  is  starving  himself  and  draw- 
ing on  his  reserve  vitality. 

The  children  appear  to  be  poorly  nourished,  and  in  many 
instances  their  condition  is  very  likely  due  to  the  absence 
of  fresh  cow's  milk.  Except  at  two  or  three  points,  situated 
at  great  distances  from  each  other,  there  are  no  cows  in  the 
interior  of  the  Territory.  Even  at  these  points  the  price 
of  milk  would  debar  it  from  the  Indians.  The  only  milk 
the  native  can  obtain  is  the  evaporated  or  condensed  va- 
riety, and  children  fed  for  long  periods  of  time  on  this  kind 
of  milk  often  suffer  from  acute  intestinal  disorders  and 
diseases  due  to  malnutrition. 

Alcohol,  because  of  the  unusual  manner  in  which  it  is 
consumed,  is  probably  one  of  the  causes  of  malnutrition 
among  the  adults.  The  existing  laws  prohibiting  the  sale 
of  intoxicating  liquors  to  the  Indian  force  him,  if  he  tries  to 
obtain  whisky,  to  purchase  it  in  some  underhand  way  and 
in  large  quantities.  The  impossibility  of  enforcing  the  law 
under  existing  conditions  tends  to  stimulate  a  trade  in  the 
lowest  grade  of  poisonous  whisky  between  the  Indians  and 
a  disreputable  class  of  white  men.  From  the  information 
we  obtained  during  our  investigation  we  concluded  that 
practically  all  the  Indians  in  the  Yukon  and  Tanana  valleys 
are  able  to  secure  intoxicating  liquors.  However,  when  a 
supply  is  brought  into  a  settlement  it  is  usually  consumed 
at  once,  either  through  a  lack  of  self-control  or  because  of 
fear  that  the  supply  will  be  discovered  and  confiscated  by 
the  authorities.  This  custom  causes  numerous  cases  of 
alcoholic  poisoning,  and  when  carried  on  over  a  period  of 
time,  lowers  the  vitality  of  the  individual  and  opens  the 
way  to  chronic  diseases. 

2.  Clothing. — The  Indian  has  entirely  changed  the  man- 
ner of  clothing  his  body  during  recent  years.  Before  the 
white  man  came  into  the  country  he  used  skins,  furs,  and 
other  native  products.  Now  he  purchases  ready-made 
clothes  from  the  trader,  and  these  are  usually  of  shoddy  or 
other  cheap  materials.  The  women  make  most  of  the 


30 

clothes  for  themselves  and  their  children  from  cotton  cloth, 
and  they  probably  do  not  have  the  necessary  protection  for 
the  arctic  winters. 

3.  Care  of  the  Body. — Bathing  of  the  body  is  not  a  fre- 
quent practice.     Possibly  this  is  due  to  the  low  temperature 
and  the  lack  of  water  and  privacy  during  the  winter  months. 
There  is  a  great  difference  between  individuals  regarding 
personal  cleanliness.     Some  of  the  Indians  who  have  come 
in  contact  with  the  missionaries  and  teachers  have  fairly 
clean  habits,  but  many  others  are  filthy;   their  clothes  in- 
side and  out  are  dirty,  and  they  do  not  appear  to  follow 
any  of  the  personal  hygienic  customs  of  civilized  society. 

4.  Habits  and   Customs. — The   Indians  have  numerous 
habits  and  customs  which  are  closely  related  to  health  and 
disease,  such  as  the  custom  of  "potlatching,"  mentioned 
under  the  paragraph  on  Foods.     Spitting  seems  to  be  a  uni- 
versal habit.     Men  and  boys  particularly  make  a  habit  of 
expectorating  at  frequent  intervals  upon  paths  and  nearby 
objects  when  out-of-doors,  and  also  upon  the  floors  and  other 
selected  places  in  dwellings.     This  habit  is,  without  doubt, 
a  large  factor  in  the  spreading  of  tuberculosis. 

Promiscuous  sexual  intercourse  among  the  boys  and  girls 
is  a  custom  that  begins  about  the  time  of  puberty,  and 
probably  is  a  factor  in  disseminating  venereal  diseases 
throughout  the  settlements.  There  are  peculiar  customs 
connected  with  childbirth  which,  no  doubt,  cause  uterine 
diseases,  and  filthy  habits  relating  to  the  care  of  children 
likely  to  produce  intestinal  disorders  and  skin  eruptions. 

The  Indian  objects  to  burning  anything  which  comes  from 
his  body,  such  as  hair,  bits  of  skin,  or  parings  of  finger-nails, 
as  he  believes  they  contain  some  of  the  vital  principle  upon 
which  his  physical  welfare  depends.  This  belief  extends  to 
old  clothes  which  may  be  soiled  by  excretions  from  the  body, 
and  probably  spread  acute  contagious  diseases,  such  as 
typhoid  or  scarlet  fever  and  dysentery.  As  is  indicated  by 
many  customs,  the  Indian  is  still  very  superstitious,  and 
often  when  ill  or  in  trouble  resorts  to  the  tribal  medicine 
man  rather  than  to  a  priest  or  physician. 


C.  THE  HEALTH  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL. 
While  the  information  presented  under  this  heading  was 
largely  gathered  personally  through  clinics  and  visits  to 
patients  in  their  homes,  I  have  also  used  facts  obtained  from 
missionaries,  physicians,  and  trained  nurses  who  are  working 
among  the  Indians. 

1.  The  General  Health. — The  health  of  the  inhabitants  in 
the  settlements  we  visited  is  below  the  normal  of  the  whites 
in  the  same  region.     Instead  of  finding  a  race  in  a  good 
physical  condition,  as  might  be  expected  in  a  healthy  coun- 
try such  as  Alaska,  and  among  a  people  whose  occupations 
are  largely  followed  in  the  open  air,  we  found  a  majority  of 
both  sexes  complaining  of  various  kinds  of  indefinite  misery, 
and  showing  indications  to  the  trained  observer  of  impaired 
vitality. 

2.  Tuberculosis. — There  are  numerous  cases  of  tubercu- 
lous disease  in  practically  all  the  settlements  along  the 
Yukon  and  Tanana  Rivers.     Every  form  and  stage  of  the 
disease  can  be  studied  during  a  journey  through  the  in- 
terior of  the  Territory.     However,  no  figures  of  value  could 
be  obtained  regarding  the  number  of  persons  afflicted  in  a 
given  community  or  in  the  territory  inspected.     We  found 
there  is  a  great  difference  of  opinion  on  the  subject  among 
the  social  and  medical  workers,  although  nearly  every  one 
consulted  believes  that  over  half  of  the  population  is  suffer- 
ing from  the  disease  in  some  form.     In  a  few  of  the  smaller 
settlements  where  I  made  an  examination  of  possibly  one- 
third  of  the  inhabitants  I  found  indications  of  bone  or  gland 
infection  in  nearly  every  person  inspected. 

3.  Eye  Diseases. — Eye  diseases  are  prevalent  throughout 
the  district,  and   I  saw  many  cases  of  partial  and   total 
blindness.     The  patients  who  came  to  the  clinics  complain- 
ing of  eye  trouble  usually  were  suffering  from  trachoma, 
and  probably  most  of  the  blindness  is  due  to  that  disease 
or  to  infection  from  gonorrhea. 

4.  Venereal  Diseases. — It  was  impossible,  on  a  journey  of 
inspection  such  as  we  were  undertaking,  to  make  a  thor- 


32 

ough  investigation  as  to  the  prevalence  of  venereal  disease. 
However,  I  saw  unmistakable  signs  of  syphilis  in  a  number 
of  persons  who  consulted  me  for  other  troubles,  and  was 
quite  often  asked  to  treat  patients  infected  with  gonorrhea. 
These  experiences,  together  with  the  information  I  gathered 
from  various  sources,  led  me  to  believe  that  venereal  dis- 
eases are  common  and  are  a  factor  in  the  degeneration  of  the 
Indians  of  Alaska. 

5.  Abdominal  Disease. — Intestinal  disorders  are  very 
common.  Daily  I  heard  complaints  of  pain  and  other 
symptoms,  indicating  that  there  is  a  large  amount  of  suf- 
fering from  functional  diseases,  and  I  also  examined  many 
cases  where  abdominal  operations  were  indicated. 

D.  THE  INCREASE  OR  DECREASE  IN  THE  POPULATION. 

So  far  as  I  am  aware  there  are  no  reliable  figures  to  be 
obtained  on  this  subject.  The  United  States  Census  Re- 
port for  1910  gives  the  entire  native  population  of  Alaska 
as  slightly  over  25,000,  and  shows  a  decrease  of  over  4000 
in  ten  years.  There  seems  to  be  much  difference  of  opinion 
among  the  well-informed  whites  of  the  interior  of  the  Terri- 
tory as  to  the  vital  statistics  of  the  Indian  population. 
When  we  came  to  collecting  figures  regarding  the  births  and 
deaths  occurring  in  the  villages  during  a  given  time  in  the 
past  few  years,  we  generally  found  that  no  figures  are  kept 
except  at  settlements  where  Government  teachers  are 
stationed.  In  other  places  our  information  was  obtained 
by  the  very  unreliable  method  of  questioning  the  whites 
and  intelligent  natives.  However,  the  figures  obtained  by 
our  efforts  showed  in  almost  every  instance  an  increase  of 
births  over  deaths  for  various  periods  of  time  during  recent 
years.  For  a  while  these  statistics  puzzled  me,  as  there  is 
no  doubt  the  Indians  are  much  less  numerically  in  the  Yu- 
kon District  at  the  present  time  than  they  were  fifteen  or 
twenty  years  ago.  After  our  investigation  had  been  in 
progress  for  some  time  we  began  to  hear  about  disastrous 
epidemics  of  diseases,  such  as  measles  and  smallpox.  These 
swept  the  country  after  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Terri- 


33 

tory,  causing  hundreds  of  deaths,  and  in  some  localities 
wiping  out  entire  villages.  Therefore  I  concluded  that  the 
reduction  in  the  population  is  not  due  to  a  steady  death- 
rate  higher  than  the  number  of  births  in  an  average  year, 
but  is  due  to  an  occasional  epidemic,  deadly  because  the 
ground  is  prepared  by  the  bad  sanitary  conditions  of  the 
settlements  and  the  unhygienic  manner  in  which  the  In- 
dians live. 

SUMMARY. 

The  facts  gathered  during  the  survey  as  outlined  show — 

1 .  That  the  native  settlements  in  the  Yukon  and  Tanana 
River  valleys  are  in  a  very  bad  sanitary  condition. 

2.  That  the  peculiar  habits  and  customs  of  the  Indian 
are  a  large  factor  in  causing  disease. 

3.  That  disease  and  misery  due  to  ill  health  are  very  com- 
mon. 

4.  That  the  native  population  is  not  decreasing  except 
during  periods  of  epidemics. 

As  the  investigation  progressed  I  was  more  impressed 
each  succeeding  day  by  the  large  amount  of  indefinite  mis- 
ery shown  by  men,  women,  and  children.  Practically  all 
gave  the  impression  of  having  some  physical  disorder,  and 
often  the  trouble  was  in  plain  view,  such  as  inflamed  eyes, 
enlarged  or  suppurating  glands,  skin  diseases,  or  deformi- 
ties. If  one  saw  an  apparently  healthy  individual,  when 
questioned,  he  was  almost  certain  to  complain  of  some  in- 
ternal disorder. 

This  obvious  deterioration  of  the  native  race  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  Territory  of  Alaska  is,  in  my  opinion,  due — 

1.  To  the  gradual  lessening  of  the  Indian's  means  of 
subsistence,  such  as  the  fish,  the  fur-bearing  animals,  and 
the  game,      This,  in  a  large  measure,  is  caused  by  the  white 
man's  vandalism,  for  he  uses  "modern"  methods  in  fishing 
and  hunting:  he  does  not  preserve  the  game  as  the  Indian 
has  done  for  years ;  and  in  some  instances  he  uses  poison  to 
obtain  furs  in  large  quantities. 

2.  To  the  change  which  has  occurred  during  the  last 
twenty  years  in  the  Indians'  manner  of  living.     Formerly 


34 

the  natives  divided  into  small  family  groups,  lived  nomadic- 
ally  in  tepees  or  tents  made  of  skins.  Now,  for  a  large  part 
of  the  year  they  live  in  tightly  closed  and  appallingly  over- 
heated cabins,  which  they  arrange  in  villages  without  regard 
to  sanitation. 

3.  To  the  perpetuation  of  many  of  the  traditional  prac- 
tices of  the  race,  which  apparently  have  a  more  harmful 
effect  upon  the   Indians  living  under  civilized  or  semi- 
civilized  conditions  than  upon  those  existing  as  savages. 

4.  To  the  number  of  squaws  removed  from  the  life  of  the 
community.     Many  white  men  who  have  settled  in  Alaska 
have  married  or  are  living  with  native  women,  and  they 
seem  to  have  picked  out  not  only  the  best-looking  squaws, 
but  also  the  finest  physical  specimens  of  the  race.     This 
leaves  the  diseased  and  weak  women  to  bring  into  the  world 
the  next  generation  of  pure-blooded  Indians. 

5.  To  the  occasional  use,  in  poisonous  quantities,  of  a 
very  low  grade  of  intoxicating  liquors. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

While  the  sanitary  and  health  conditions  of  the  natives 
living  in  the  Tanana  and  Yukon  valleys  is  very  bad  at  the 
present  time,  I  believe  that  they  can  be  changed.  Consider- 
ing the  semi-nomadic  life  of  the  Indian  and  the  unfavorable 
conditions  brought  about  by  the  climate  and  the  discovery 
of  gold  in  the  country,  the  results  from  the  efforts  of  the 
missionaries  and  the  Government  physicians,  nurses  and 
teachers  to  raise  the  standards  of  living  among  them  have 
been  extremely  good.  Many  of  the  whites  we  interviewed 
during  our  journey  declared  the  belief  that  all  efforts  to 
help  the  natives  are  of  little  value,  and  that  the  Indian  is 
poor  material  to  work  on.  I  cannot  agree  with  this  opinion, 
for  I  think  it  is  caused  by  a  perspective  too  close  to  the  mis- 
sionary and  educational  work  in  the  Territory. 

An  unprejudiced  observer  can  see  that  the  native  race  is 
tractable,  desires  to  follow  the  white  man's  customs,  and 
that  the  individuals  given  a  fair  chance  have  greatly  im- 
proved within  a  short  time.  We  heard  a  number  of  white 


35 

men  say  that  the  race  is  dying  out  and,  therefore,  it  is  un- 
necessary to  provide  schools  for  children  who  will  not  live 
to  profit  from  the  education  provided  for  them.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  believe  that  the  only  way  to  save  the  race  is 
through  education.  Bad  as  the  description  of  the  present 
state  of  their  life  may  appear,  many  of  the  conditions  are 
such  that  they  can  be  corrected  by  the  individual  with  little 
effort.  A  thorough  education  of  the  children  will  in  a  great 
measure  change  the  living  conditions  for  the  next  genera- 
tion, and  will  also  influence  the  present  adult  population. 
I  therefore  feel  strongly  that  not  only  the  existing  schools 
should  be  continued,  but  that  the  Government  should  be 
urged  to  establish  a  school  in  every  village,  or  arrange  in 
some  other  way  to  educate  all  the  native  children  in  the 
Territory. 

While  the  education  of  the  present  generation  is  in  prog- 
ress, the  medical  and  sanitary  work  in  the  settlements 
should  also  be  pushed  with  vigor.  This  can  best  be  done, 
I  believe,  under  the  direction  of  one  strong  medical  man, 
who  should  be  placed  in  charge  of  the  whole  district,  and 
supplied  with  sufficient  competent  assistants.  A  man  with 
the  ability  to  carry  through  such  constructive  work  should 
have  the  funds  necessary  to  build,  equip,  and  maintain 
hospitals  and  dispensaries,  and  should  be  given  ample 
facilities  for  summer  and  winter  transportations. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

THOMAS  S.  CARRINGTON. 

September  28,  1914. 


The  Indian  Rights  Association  is  a  non-partisan,  non- 
sectarian  organization  for  promoting  the  civilization  of  the 
Indian  and  for  securing  his  natural  and  political  rights. 
To  this  end  it  aims  to  collect  and  collate  facts,  principally 
through   the  personal   investigations  of  its  officers  and 
^ents,  regarding  the  Indian's  relations  with  the  Govern- 
ment and  with  our  own  race,  concerning  his  progress  in 
industry  and   education,   his   present  and   future   needs. 
Upon  the  basis  of  facts,   and  of  legitimate  conclusions 
drawn  from  them,  the  Association  appeals  to  the  American 
people  for  the  maintenance  of  such  a  just  and  wise  policy 
upon  the  part  of  the  Executive  and  Congress  in  dealing 
with  these  helpless  wards  of  the  Nation  as  may  discourage 
fraud  and  violence,  promote  education,  obedience  to  law, 
and  honorable  labor,  and  finally  result  in  the  complete 
absorption  of  the   Indian  into  the  common  life  of  the 
Nation. 


LIST  OF  OFFICERS  FOR  THE  YEAR  1915 


HONORARY   PRESIDENT, 

HON.  JOSEPH  H.  CHOATE. 

PRESIDENT, 

REV.  CARL  E.  GRAMMER,  S.T.D. 

VICE-PRESIDENT, 

EDWARD  M.  WISTAR. 

TREASURER, 

CHARLES  J.  RHOADS. 

CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY, 

HERBERT    WELSH. 

RECORDING   SECRETARY, 

MATTHEW  K.  SNIFFEN. 


EXECUTIVE   COMMITTEE, 

DR.  FRANCIS  OLCOTT  ALLEN,  JR.,  WARREN  K.  MOOREHEAD 

H.  H.  BARTON,  JR.,  MRS.  JOHN  MARKOE, 

Miss  EDITH  F.  BIDDLE,  HENRY  S.  PANCOAST, 

T.  WISTAR  BROWN,  30,  CHARLES  J.  RHOADS, 

WM.  ALEXANDER  BROWN,  JONATHAN  M.  STEERE, 

MRS.  BRINTON  COXE,  MATTHEW  K.  SNIFFEN, 

JOSEPH  ELKINTON,  Miss  AGNES  L.  TIERNEY, 

REV.  CARL  E.  GRAMMER,  S.T.D.,  HERBERT  WELSH, 

JAMES  S.  HIATT,  HERBERT  S.  WELSH, 
EDWARD  M.  WISTAR. 


